Reunion: Beneath the Ocean
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: A different version of Hunting Grounds that can be linked to the 1st Reunion story R


_Disclaimer: I do not own Wolverine & the X-men just the words below_

_I figured that, since I literally rewrote X-Calibre for my favourite X-men pairing, I thought; __**why not rewrite Hunting Grounds**__**to fit in better?**__ Before- no wait, you have to scroll down-below is the results. I even tweaked the title of Reunion Aboard the Avalon so they would match._

_Enjoy!_

**Reunion: Beneath the Ocean**

It was at times like this, when Kitty would wonder why their room was not like the inside of a hollow sphere. She was currently in the doorway to the room she shared with her boyfriend Kurt, watching the blue elf literally pace the room; as in walk across the floor, up the wall, across the ceiling, down the wall then repeat the process again.

She was torn between watching him walk in vertical circles and try and stop herself from giggling when his hair looked like a rock star's whilst he was upside-down, and intervening him in his tracks and asking what was wrong. Unfortunately, her need to help won over her need to laugh and Kitty found herself walking fully into the room.

"Is everything alright, Kurt?" She asked once she stepped into her love's line of sight.

"Just wunderbar" Kurt replied sarcastically as he passed his girlfriend and sat down on the edge of their bed looking as blue as his fur.

"You tried to get Logan and Scott to cooperate with one another again, didn't you" Kitty asked or rather stated as she sat down beside the sour elf.

Kurt just groaned lightly, not at all surprised that girl beside him had already deducted what the cause of his blue mood was. Ever since he and Kitty had returned to the X-men, Kurt had valiantly tried to get Logan and Scott to let go of their rivalry and start anew. Sadly, out of all his attempts to date, none had succeeded.

"If they just agreed to even a truce until we find Jean, surely the team could be more together" Kurt said apparently still grouchy from his attempt at peace talks had once again almost ended in a blood fest. "I'm not saying we're not working well, just that we were way more...-Oh, why am I even trying?"

Kitty smiled softly as she placed a kiss on his furry cheek before moving behind him and began massaging his shoulders almost instantly feeling him relax under her touch. She knew that it was in Kurt's nature to try and find peaceful ways of doing things instead of just rushing in like Logan in a fist fight; although there were a few exceptions. It was just one of the reasons why she fell for him.

"Because you're you" She answered in a cheerfully obvious tone as she wrapped her arms round his neck and kissing him on the cheek again. "And I wouldn't love you any other way"

Kurt was thankful that his fur hid his blush as he moved his hand behind his head to caress his girl's flowing locks whilst his tail wrapped itself comfortably round her bare midriff. Kitty returned the favour by pressing her cheek into his as she tightened her grip on him. The two of them remained quiet as they savoured the moment.

"Now C'mon, I've got something to show you that will turn your frown upside-down" Kitty said as she phased through the elf and walked to the door.

"Oh, I know you do" Kurt said matter-of-factly as he stood up himself.

"You do?" Kitty asked curiously stopping halfway to the door to turn round to look at him although she had a good guess what he was about to say.

"Ja, although right now, it's currently hidden under your clothes" Kurt replied cheekily confirming Kitty's suspicions.

"You know if it was Bobby I was having this conversation with and he said that, he would be singing soprano for the rest of the week" Kitty said as her face glowed scarlet.

"But I'm not Bobby" Kurt assured Kitty as he walked up to her and placed his hands on her hips and tugged her closer to him. "Am I?"

"Nope" Kitty answered without hesitation before kissing him soundly on the lips before pulling away slightly. "You're _mine_"

Kurt grinned before leaning in for another kiss, only to kiss air as Kitty had phased out of his grasp and had taken several steps back.

"Nuh uh-uh" She said as if scolding a child trying to steal a cookie out of the cookie jar. "You haven't been shown your _other_ thing to turn your frown upside-down"

"And just what else is there, other than you, that can turn my frown upside-down liebchen?" Kurt asked his curiosity getting the better of him as he sat back down on the bed.

"Oh, I don't know" Kitty replied pretending she had suddenly forgotten before continuing. "Maybe a session in the Danger Room set with a program of one of your favourite fight scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean?"

Kurt was instantly on his feet. It was common knowledge to everyone in the institute that Kurt was a prankster second, although since the explosion he seemed to have matured, and a swashbuckler first.

"Whatever would I do without you liebling?" Kurt asked pretending to clutch his heart as its heart rate increased tenfold.

"End up living in Genosha and getting together with magnet head's daughter" Was Kitty's answer as she left the room.

'_That was blunt'_ Kurt thought to himself. _'And the scary part is, it could happen too'_

Moving to his dresser, Kurt rummaged through it for his X-men uniform. Normally, he would don clothing that suited the program the Holo-deck was running, but knowing Kitty she would have kicked it up a notch. That meant that something along the lines of a second skin, like his uniform, was the best suitable choice. As he began donning the familiar fabric, Kurt could not help but look back on the day that had started moving them from best friends to something more.

_*#~#*_

_Kurt sighed heavily as he watched from his balcony the romance blossoming between Scott and Jean down on the patio below him. Raising one of his hands, Kurt stared at the blue furred appendage as if it was confirming that he would never have anything as wonderful as what the two lovers down below shared._

_Despite being in a place where people saw and liked him for who he was, Kurt yearned for the one thing he knew he could not get anywhere else in the world; a relationship. Sadly, despite being popular with many of the females at the mansion, Kurt knew that they were still uncomfortable around him all because of their reaction when they first meet him. Every time a new girl coming to the mansion met him, they would either scream, back away in fright, jump a mile high, exclaim the D word or a combination if not all of the above._

"_Hey, Kurt" Kitty said cheerfully as her head suddenly popped out of the balcony wall beside where Kurt was leaning against._

_Kurt replied by jumping at least a foot backwards as he exclaimed something incoherent in German. Kitty was probably the only girl who would ever be able to get the jump on him. It was something she would do now and again after whenever he startled her by teleporting right in front of her now and again when she least expected it._

"_You must have been well out of it this time when I got the drop on you" She teased once she managed to collect herself. "Did you leave your brain behind when you last teleported?"_

"_I was just...distracted" Kurt answered after looking for the right word to say._

"_Really?" Kitty asked curiously before looking round to see if she could see the reason and locking onto the couple down below._

"_Aw, how sweet" She cooed in a romantic way before quickly looking back at Kurt with an evil glint in her eyes. "Wanna go ruin the moment?"_

_It was this aspect of Kitty's personality that had Kurt intrigued with the girl; if she had something to say she would say it regardless of who she was talking to. He could still remember, looking back on the day they first met over two years ago, all the questions she had literally quick-fired at him as he took her to see the Professor. She had asked him if his eyes glowed in the dark, if his fur got uncomfortable during summer weather and if it shed and had even asked if he was furry in the more private places to which he balked at until Kitty told him she was joking._

_If there had been any doubt that Kitty was not afraid of him, it had been banished when they had reached the door to the Professor's study. Kitty had made to knock when the Professor told her mentally to come in before her knuckles could connect with the mahogany panel. Proving that she was still unused to being a mutant, Kitty gasped and latched onto Kurt as she looked around trying to locate the source of the voice before Kurt gently steered her through the study door and into the room himself and had to remain there as the girl did not relinquish her grip on him one bit. Only when she was in her own room and he needed to answer a call for nature, did she finally release him._

"_Nein" Kurt replied to her question not in the mood to prank. "Let them enjoy it while they still can"_

_Kitty looked at her friend as if he had grown an extra head. Kurt would normally jump at the chance to prank someone if he was offered which meant that there was definitely something on the elf's mind._

"_Okay, you are more than _just_ distracted" Kitty noted as she began connecting the dots. "It wouldn't happen to be something about those two down there, would it?" The elf's slight squirming confirmed her suspicions._

"_Wanna talk about it?" She asked softly as she walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it patting the space beside her to invite the elf over._

"_It's nothing important" Kurt said in an attempt to get the girl to leave him alone as he remained standing where he was._

"_That's what I tell you whenever you try to pry into what's wrong with me" Kitty argued. "What makes you think I'm not as stubborn as you?"_

"_You're actually more stubborn than me" Kurt pointed out as a small grin appeared. "It took me three days of prying to get you to open up about your nightmares about phasing deep down and never coming back up"_

_Kitty involuntarily shuddered at the memory. Not long after arriving at the mansion, she began having nightmares about her powers sending her far below the earth's surface and never letting her see daylight again. As a result, she closed herself off from everyone and shunned all their help. Kurt however kept bugging her about it until she finally gave in three days later._

"_At least I got something out of it, other than the obvious" Kitty retorted smugly._

"_Which was...?" Kurt prompted her curious himself as to what else she could have gotten from back then._

"_I was the first girl to experience hugging a fuzzy elf teddy bear whilst sleeping" She answered not at all abashed about sleeping in bed with a boy. "_And _the only one to do so to date"_

"_And probably the only one to ever do so" Kurt muttered in a sad tone._

_Kitty's smug look disappeared instantly and replaced with one of shock and sadness when she realised that she had not only pinpointed her best friend's source of pain but had accidently made it worse. She mentally cursed herself, not caring who heard, before walking over to where Kurt stood and hugging him tightly._

"_Sorry" She mumbled unable to come up with anything better._

"_It's no problem Kitty" Kurt said as he gently pulled himself out of the petite teen's arms. "I've already resigned myself to the fact that no woman would want me in a romantic way. Can't really blame them, one look at me and they run for the hugel"_

"_The what?" Kitty asked the German elf completely confused as to what a hugel is or was._

"_Hill, as in head for the hills the waters are rising" Kurt weakly joked._

_Kitty shook her head at the lame attempt at humour before wrapping her arms, loosely this time, round Kurt's waist again and holding him to her._

"_What makes you think _I_ don't want you in a romantic way?" she asked softly._

_Kurt looked down at Kitty curiously before answering. "Because you're already torn between choosing one of two likely lads already" _

_Kitty immediately pushed Kurt away until he was at arm's length and looked him in the eye. "Which two and what reasons?" She asked quickly as if afraid of what she was about to hear._

"_Well, Piotr because whenever he walks by you just stand and stare at him until he's out of sight" Said Kurt unsure of why Kitty was reacting this way. "And, if you go by the saying two who fight really care about one another, Bobby because the two of you seem to be constantly-"_

_Kurt was unable to finish his explanation as Kitty had just dived at him sending both to the floor._

"_The reason I stare at Piotr is because I can't believe how someone can be like that naturally" Kitty whispered from on top of him. "And the reason I fight with Bobby is because he's...he's..."_

"_Totally irresistible to girls your age and you just want an excuse to be near him?" Kurt supplied._

"_Anymore suggestions that imply that I have a thing for Bobby and you'll wake up furless the next morning" Kitty hissed causing Kurt to put his hands up in surrender._

"_Okay, okay I'll stop" Kurt conceded. "Now why don't you tell me the reasons why you might want me in a romantic way"_

_Kitty smiled sweetly down at him before leaning in close and whispering in his ear. "Do I need a reason to love you?"_

_*#~#*_

A startled gasp from just outside the room shook Kurt from his memories. Before he could call out Kitty's name and ask what had surprised her, five hands suddenly grabbed him from behind whilst a sixth held a lethal looking dagger to his throat.

"Nice to see you again" Said a voice Kurt had last heard on the Avalon several weeks ago.

The next thing Kurt knew, he and Kitty were falling onto a grassy plane amidst a forest that was currently basked in the moons glow.

"Well that was pleasant" Kitty sarcastically remarked as she got up and rubbed her sore backside.

"At least you did not land on your face" Kurt pointed out referring to their session in the Danger Room before the explosion.

Anymore idle banter they were hoping to trade between one another was interrupted by a small metal orb the size of a tennis ball floating in front of Kitty's face. High above them, a large blob of a head suddenly appeared as if projected onto the night sky.

"Welcome, Welcome! My esteemed guests" It said its wide red eyes focusing on the two on the ground.

"A real life Jabba the Hut?" Kurt muttered in amazement.

"That, or a relative of Blob's" Kitty suggested.

"Rejoice!" The head continued as if it never heard them talking. "For you have been specially chosen for this week's episode of-_'Mojo's Hunting Grounds!'_

"He _does_ know who we are, doesn't he?" Kitty whispered to Kurt.

"Apparently not well enough" Kurt mused as his tail swatted away one of the metal orbs that were floating around him.

"This is a perfect chance for you to test your mutant mettle" The head croaked on. "All I ask, is that you survive for fifty two minutes; for commercial breaks"

Kurt and Kitty looked at one another. The two of them had secretly been having late night sessions in the Danger Room to bring hone themselves back to their formal levels of skill that a year away had dulled. Compared to that, whatever this Mojo character had in store for them probably paled greatly in comparison.

Suddenly, Mojo's face vanished and was replace of a clip viewing Kurt's, albeit swift, battle with the three goons and his disarming of the Mrs Dr Octopus whereas there was no sign of Kitty save for a fraction of a second when the two of them were at sword point before Kurt made his move.

'_Coming soon, witness the return of the incredible Nightcrawler _A faceless voice said that Kurt and Kitty assumed was supposed to be the announcer. _'Witness as he makes his long awaited rematch. But how will he fair, when he also has to protect the love of his life; the fragile Phantomkitten'_

"That's _Shadowcat_! And I was fighting too!" Kitty snarled at Mojo's face when it reappeared. And who are you calling fragile? Do I look like a damsel to you?"

"Exactly!" Mojo exclaimed excitedly. "The action, the drama, the _ratings_!"

Kitty's Wolverine grade temper was starting to flare when Kurt placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Cameras are rolling! Lights and ACTION!"

Taking their cue, the three goons suddenly came out of hiding and fired at the two X-men only to riddle a reddish cloud whilst Nightcrawler and Shadowcat were running in the opposite direction half a kilometre away.

"So what's the plan?" Shadowcat asked her partner as they continued running.

"Find a way to shake off the goons and cameras, sneak back in and locate the slug" Nightcrawler replied as he dashed along on all fours beside her. "Hopefully, you'll be able to show him how _fragile_ you are before he makes his escape with that samurai octopus you _disarmed_ during our last encounter"

"Have I told how much I love you?" Shadowcat asked loving how the plan fitted what she had in mind.

"I thought you preferred _showing_ me" Nightcrawler joked before they were suddenly fired upon again.

"That's because, we weren't busy at the time" Shadowcat countered before she phased through a large hedge to appear at the other side whilst Nightcrawler teleported over.

As they ran through a clearing in the forest, Shadowcat had kept herself intangible in case one of the goons got a lucky shot. Because of this, she did not realise she had went through some sort of barrier until she came out the other side and found herself on the ocean floor. Quickly bringing herself back inside, she found Nightcrawler sprawled on the ground before her.

"What are you doing?" She panted.

"Not everyone can phase to avoid collisions" Nightcrawler groaned as he sat up clutching his head in one hand before looking at the girl dripping wet before him. "What have you _been_ doing?"

At that moment, the three goons started firing on them again.

"You're about to find out" Shadowcat said as she grabbed the elf's arm. "Take a deep breath"

Nightcrawler barely had time to comply before he found himself literally swimming with the fishes.

-*/#\*-

"Now _that_ is what I call an interesting twist" Mojo cackled as his long spindly fingers punched several keys and activated the outer dome cameras. None of their screens had the two X-men in their sights. "Even better! But they still have to come in again to breath, and when they do...Spiral, is our celebrity _guest_ ready for his debut?"

-*/#\*-

The two X-men tried to inhale as much air into their lungs as possible to make up for their lack of it for the last three minutes. Nightcrawler was even worse due to the strain it took to teleport himself and Shadowcat over to the opposite side of the underwater dome they were in. As they recovered from their brief swim, a red light filled the virtual night sky as klaxons blared into life.

"That doesn't sound good" Shadowcat muttered as she subconsciously grabbed Nightcrawler's hand in her own.

"Neither does that" Nightcrawler added as the sounds of fighting could be briefly heard before total silence encompassed them.

Suddenly something shot out of the bushes in front of them. Wearing only a pair of jeans and sporting one rather strange yet sophisticated headpiece was-

"Logan!" Both Nightcrawler and Shadowcat exclaimed simultaneously.

Wolverine however, did not seem to recognise them. He stalked forward, like a predator cornering its prey, as he drew his adamantium claws clearly eager for some fresh meat. Shadowcat was starting to feel scared. She, as well as Nightcrawler, had fought Wolverine several times before but never like this. Feeling pressure in one of her hands, she looked down to see she still had Nightcrawler' firmly in her grip. Like a light going on, she had an idea, a crazy one, but one none the less.

"Kurt, remember when we first met?" She blurted out to the elf that looked confused at first then suddenly understood what she was going on about.

Clasping her hand in both of his, Nightcrawler managed to lift Shadowcat into the air as he spun himself in a circle. Midway, Shadowcat phased herself out of his grip and went sailing to and through Wolverine; particularly the head piece which sparked before detaching itself from Wolverine's head and blowing up when it hit the ground. Wolverine swayed for a few seconds before face planting himself into the ground as he fell unconscious.

"You do realise how foolish that was, don't you?" Nightcrawler asked as he went over to where Shadowcat had landed and helped her up.

"No, but I do know how _sore_ it was" The girl countered as she massaged her right shoulder. "If this is more than just bruised, I promise you, you will be making up for it"

"That's assuming we get out of her" Nightcrawler pointed out as he put one of Wolverine's arms over his shoulder and hoisted him up despite his muscles protesting.

"Luckily for us, I happened to see the way out during our little swim" Shadowcat stated before starting to walk towards the exit. "C'mon. I don't wanna have to carry both of you"

"Like you would be able to lift one of us" Nightcrawler muttered under his breath as he commanded his legs to move.

Soon, the three of them had reached a stone wall with what looked like a vault door stuck on the front of it. The door posed no problem to them thanks to Shadowcat's powers however, the moment they entered what looked like the main control room something large bowled into them and sent them flying in separate directions.

Shadowcat tried desperately to blink the stars out of her eyes and see what was happening but was too disconcerted to properly focus. A sudden clang from just above her made her look up. She could just make out Wolverine, fully conscious again, blocking Spiral's lethal dagger which had been slicing through the air towards her. As her eyes got more focused, she saw Wolverine take a punch from the robotic armed woman before throwing a punch of his own that sent her clear across the room. As she watched the woman's trajectory, she saw something that made her heart stop.

Clutched in the hand of some _thing_ that could barely be called human, Nightcrawler hung lifelessly apparently, she hoped, knocked out from the sneak attack that clear came from the creature that sat in a spindly legged chair who had what was probably the chairs tail pointed at the elf's face; a tail with several sharp instruments protruding from it. Undaunted-or more specifically enraged-at the sight before him, Wolverine charged forward and sliding tackled underneath the creatures chair taking out its legs with it.

"Now, why don't you let my friend go before a give you a few more holes to breath out of" Wolverine growled as he hopped up onto the creature's shoulder before a rather scary looking smile adorned his face. "Or would you rather his girlfriend tear you some instead?"

At this, Shadowcat grinned evilly. "Allow me to show you just how _fragile_ I am" She said in a cold voice as she slowly stepped towards the mutated marshmallow that was starting to sweat buckets at the look in her eyes.

Realising the predicament he was in, Mojo threw Nightcrawler at Shadowcat sending both to the floor whilst his tail swatted Wolverine off his shoulder.

"This demands...a _sequel_!" He yelled joyously as he disappeared into a blue spiral vortex.

Logan stared at the space where Mojo was a few moments previously before turning to where Kurt and Kitty were sprawled as the former regained consciousness.

"Now _this_ is something to wake up to" Kurt noted as he lifted his head off of Kitty's chest so he could get a better view.

"Ugh, if you can say corny stuff like that, then you're okay" Kitty grumbled good naturedly as she shoved Kurt off herself.

"So" Kurt said as he raised himself into a sitting position. "Who saved who here?"

-*/#\*-

"Ah, I never thought fresh air and open skies could be so wonderful" Kitty remarked as they sat on the hull of the ship the hijacked in order to leave the island.

"Guess all we can do now is wait for the others to find us" Logan muttered as he gazed off into the golden horizon.

"What's got your claws bent out of shape?" Kurt asked curiously.

"He's just angry that he has just been rescued for the first time in his life" Kitty provided. "Or since he became an X-man at least"

Kurt couldn't help but chuckle. "Kitty, he's _always_ angry at one thing or the other. But at least it was us that saved you not Bobby"

The last part was directed at Logan who nearly shuddered at the thought; Popsicle saving him? He would never hear the end of it.

_**-*/~#~\*-**_

_As always, review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out!_


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